Storm Eunice’s 122mph gust: How it compares with other UK wind speeds

Wind speeds of 122mph at the Needles on the Isle of Wight are provisionally the highest gust ever recorded in England, the Met Office said

A man walks in high winds along the seafront in Newquay on the Cornish coast as Storm Eunice makes landfall (Matt Keeble/PA)

Storm Eunice has seen wind speeds reach 122mph at the Needles on the Isle of Wight, provisionally the highest gust ever recorded in England, according to the Met Office.

Here is how this gust compares with other wind speeds recorded by the Met Office in the UK:

– 98mph: The strongest gust recorded during Storm Arwen on the night of November 26-27 2021, at Brizlee Wood, Northumberland. Before Storm Eunice, Arwen was the most recent example of a red weather warning being issued in the UK.

– 105mph: The strongest gust during Storm Gertrude on January 29 2016, at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. This storm saw a red weather warning issued for the whole of the Shetlands.

Waves crash against the sea wall and Porthcawl Lighthouse in Bridgend, Wales, during Storm Eunice (Jacob King/PA)

– 115mph: The peak wind speed reached during the “Great Storm” of the night of October 15-16 1987, at Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. Gusts also reached 99mph at Gatwick Airport and 94mph in central London.

– 118mph: The strongest gust recorded at a low-level location in England, at Gwennap Head in Cornwall on December 15, 1979.

– 122mph: The strongest gust during Storm Eunice on February 18, 2022, at the Needles on the Isle of Wight – provisionally the highest gust ever recorded in England.

– 142mph: The strongest gust recorded at any low-level location in the UK, at Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire, on February 13 1989.

– 173mph: This was the strongest gust ever recorded in the UK, at Cairngorm summit in the Highlands of Scotland on March 20 1986.